Governor gives Grayslake girl good news on plastic bag ban

Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune

Abby Goldberg, 13, of Grayslake, gathered more than 150,000 signatures on an online petition calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to veto a bill that would have prevented cities and towns in Illinois from banning plastic bags and imposing fees on their use. Quinn vetoed the meausure Sunday.

Abby Goldberg, 13, of Grayslake, gathered more than 150,000 signatures on an online petition calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to veto a bill that would have prevented cities and towns in Illinois from banning plastic bags and imposing fees on their use. Quinn vetoed the meausure Sunday. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune)

Erin Meyer, Chicago Tribune reporter

The rule in 13-year-old Abby Goldberg's house is no phone calls from boys at night. But on Saturday, her father made an exception when Gov. Pat Quinn called the Grayslake girl turned activist shortly after 9 p.m. to share some good news.

After her yearlong crusade and an online campaign dubbed "Don't Let Big Plastic Bully Me," the northwest suburban girl is celebrating Quinn's decision to veto legislation that would have prevented cities and towns in Illinois from banning plastic bags and imposing fees on their use.

"I was so excited," the giddy eighth-grader said Sunday. "I thanked him so many times."

Concerned about the fate of animals that can eat or become fatally tangled in discarded plastic bags, Abby posted a petition on Change.org in June decrying "the devastation that millions of plastic bags have caused the environment and ocean life." A month later, with more than 150,000 signatures in hand, she traveled to Springfield and urged Quinn to oppose the industry-backed bill. On Saturday, Quinn called Abby to tell her he had no intention of signing the plastic bag bill.

"Abby is not allowed to get phone calls from boys at night. (But) we made an exception for the governor," her father, Jeff Goldberg, teased.

Thanks in part to Abby, municipalities like Evanston and Oak Park that have been weighing innovative solutions to curb plastic bag pollution will retain the right to decide. But the tenacious teen said she's not finished fighting and wants Grayslake to ban plastic bags.

Under the Plastic Bag and Film Recycling Act, manufacturers would have been required to establish recycling programs and increase the amount of plastic bags and films recycled in the state by 12 percent before the end of 2015. But according to environmental groups, which have called the legislation "laughable," Illinois already has such a dismally low rate of plastic bag recycling — roughly 2 percent — that the increase would have no meaningful impact. The bill would have also taken away the home-rule authority municipalities have to implement their own plastic bag recycling programs.

"While I agree with the intent of the legislation, I share concerns that this program would not increase the rate of recycling beyond the natural growth," Quinn said in a statement. "Local authorities and the environmental community strongly oppose this program because the metrics are simply not aggressive enough, and home rule pre-emption prevents more stringent local regulation."

Abby played a big role in persuading Quinn to veto the bill, said Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, which lobbies in Springfield on behalf of 60 environmental groups.

"It was the end of the session, and nobody was paying attention," Walling said. "The work Abby did was huge."

She is a student at Prairie Crossing Charter School, and her crusade started in August 2011 as part of an environmentally focused school project. She set out to persuade officials in her hometown to ban the bags.

When her local effort failed to gain traction, Abby, 12 at the time, turned her attention to the Illinois legislature and the industry-backed bill that Quinn vetoed Sunday. With that hurdle behind her, Abby said it's time for Grayslake to give up plastic bags.

Her mother, Tracy Goldberg, who helped her daughter draft the Change.org petition, said Abby hopes to get the support of local businesses before going before the Village Board.

"Plastic bags tend to make their way into the environment, where they cause litter problems and pose a risk to wildlife, particularly marine and aquatic life," said Stacy James, head of the Sierra Club's Prairie Group in east central Illinois. "Animals consume them ... or get caught up in the bags."

James, who lives in Champaign, said that city was considering putting a fee on plastic bags. "This bill came along, and it was going to take away Champaign's ability to do with bags what they wish," she said.

Upon learning of Quinn's veto, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group called the American Progressive Bag Alliance issued a statement describing the bills as a "joint effort by manufacturers, recyclers, retailers and local cities." The group argues that the veto "leaves the people of Illinois without a comprehensive statewide recycling program."

An alliance spokesperson declined to respond directly to environmentalists' assertions but did indicate that the industry would urge Illinois lawmakers to overturn the governor's veto when they return to Springfield in November.

"If that happens, then we are back to square one," James said.

Abby said her pet fish is breathing easier in his fish tank, at least for now.

"I really hope people have realized the problem of the bags," she said.